99 

8 
y 1 



Copyrighted 1918 

By CHAS. H. O'ROURKE 

All Rights Reserved 



©GI.A51Q065 
DEC 2~ 1948 



I 






Board of Directors 



CHAS. H. O'ROURKE. President 

Ex-Chief Feed and Fertilizer Inspector of Louisiana 

A. VIZARD, JR., Vice-President 

Independent Naval Stores Company, Lake Charles, La. 

JAS. M. MYATT, Secretary-Treasurer 

Asst. Credit Man, Finlay, Dicks & Co. 

E. M. WILLIAMS, Merchant and Capitalist 

Vinton, La. 

ROY P. STANDEFER, Hillsboro, Texas 



PREFACE 

It was not until after the discovery of America that Ameri- 
can Indian Corn became known. For more than fifteen cen- 
turies the world plodded along without this wonderful grain. 

Civilization following the custom of the American Indian 
fed American Indian corn to livestock. 

But today Corn is too valuable as human food to be used for 
livestock feed. 



o o 




CHARLES H. O'ROURKE 

President American Molasso Meal Co. , Incorporated 

and 
Inventor of Molasso Meal and Ekoro Feed Processes 



INTRODUCTORY : 

A Shortage of Supply in any Necessity 

increases the Value of any Waste By-product that might 

be successfully used as a substitute. 

The field defined in the following article is almost 
unlimited. In the State of Louisiana, alone, a practical 
tonnage exceeding 500,000 tons can be saved annually from 
the waste by-product of Sugar Cane. 

- - - - - o o - - 



Page Four 



A SUBSTITUTE for AMERICAN INDIAN CORN, 



For seventeen years the inventor of the process herein re- 
ferred to has been identified with the subject matter dis- 
cussed and has labored conscientiously in an effort to solve 
the problem of economic and efficient feeding. 

Aside from a successful termination of the World War, 
the most serious problem confronting the World today is 
the Food and' Feed Problem. Before the beginning of the 
War its seriousness had already made itself felt. 
By-products are necessary to meet the situation in the Feed 
world, as the population has grown faster than food pro- 
duction. In this country the population is increasing to 
a greater extent than the opening up of tillable lands. 
The population is consuming the grains; livestock must be 
fed on nutritious by-products. 

For eight years the president of this company was chief in- 
spector of the Louisiana State Department of Agriculture and 
having fourteen Inspectors under his jurisdiction was called 
upon to pass on the inspection of thousands of shipments of 
Feeding Materials of all kinds and character. Astounded 
at the enormous amount of Feeding Material imported into 
Louisiana for live stock, he then began a study to solve 
the Feeding Problem in its relation to Louisiana. At that 
time Black Strap Molasses, the final waste product of the 
manufacture of Cane Sugar, was being dumped into the 
Bayous and Lagoons of Louisiana, polluting the waters, 
killing fish and eventually endangering animal life, until 
an edict of the War Department prohibited the practice. 

Careful analyses were made of Black Strap Molasses, 
and experiments were conducted along the line of feeding 
it to livestock. In the practice of these researches 
he obtained employment in the Mixed Feed business and 
traveled in every State in the South, as well as in New 
York and Pennsylvania, for several years, selling Molasses 
Feeds to determine in a large and extensive experience, 
covering a wide area, the practical effects of feed- 
ing livestock with Molasses Feed. It was found that 
the same conditions existing in Louisiana were to be found 
in other States: The Virginias and Carolinas, Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas import enormous 
quantities of feedstuffs. Feeds are not only sold and 
imported to Louisiana, but to all States east of the Mis- 
sissippi River, and the very heaviest importations of feed 
are found in the rich Dairy Sections of the East, where 
MOLASSO MEAL and EKORO FEED will find their greatest market.' 

Firm in the faith that Black Strap Molasses afforded 
the most economic Feeding Value on the American Market, a 
study was begun to find a reliable and suitable container 

Page Five 



(or absorbent) by which this valuable liquid could be eco- 
nomically reduced to a meal form. (The value of Molasses 
as a Feed is evidenced by the fact that Commercial Feeds 
mixed with Molasses are the biggest sellers on the Ameri- 
can Market today.) In view of the simplicity of the solu- 
tion of this problem it seems ludicrous now to look back 
upon the many blind trails traversed in the effort to solve 
the problem. But the one big handicap that blocked the 
progress was the established order of affairs. We are so 
prone to accept the "established rule" as a means of at- 
tainment that in the practice of this principle many 
experiments were made unsuccessfully with Feeding Mate- 
rials enjoying a commercial value. Dried Sugar Beet Pulp 
was the material that eventually suggested the method upon 
which the final solution was founded. 

These very conditions constitute the "established 
rule" in the Mixed Feed business today, and, while founded 
on sound economic principles, do not satisfactorily re- 
lieve the situation they aim to correct. One feature of the 
Mixed Feed business that places upon the feeder a heavy bur- 
den is the double haul on Crude Material . Thousands of tons 
of Cottonseed Meal are transported over the same road twice 
and this of itself adds to the cost. The Mixed Feed busi- 
ness is established on the principle of taking cer- 
tain By-products of Straight Grains, mixing these with 
whole grains, and very often with Black Strap Molasses, 
and producing a Balanced Ration. The Protein base is 
often from Cotton Seed Meal. Many of these Mills are 
merely mixing plants that buy their Crude Materials in the 
Autumn and Fall, and, by the usual advance in price which 
invariably occurs after the Christmas Holidays, make a 
very respectable margin of profit. But the principle 
while practical is not economical in the fullest sense of 
the term; for while Mixed Feeds sell to the Feeder at less 
than Straight Grains would cost him (else the Feeder would 
buy Straight Grains) , they are at all times at the mercy 
of the price of Straight Grains. A short Grain Crop af- 
fords but little relief to the Feeder, because with a 
shortage in Grain production the price of Grain By- 
products are relatively high. This is the very thing that 
is wrong in the Mixed Feed business; so much so that the 
average person identified with the Mixed Feed industry 
calls it a "game" and not a business. 

Therefore, in the solution of this problem, this one 
fact was never lost sight of: To produce a substitute for 
American Indian Corn for the feeding of livestock, the 
price of which would never be influenced in any manner 
whatsoever by the crop production of American Indian Corn. 
And in solving this problem Sugar Cane Bagasse was found 
to be the most wonderful and practical absorbent for this 
purpose . 

Others in this country have not thought of Bagasse as 
a feed because the large feed industries are far removed 

Page Six 



from Louisiana and Bagasse would not ordinarily appeal to 
the casual observer as worth anything, because (and here 
again we are following the "established rule") the casual 
observer naturally supposes that if Bagasse was more val- 
uable for any other purpose the Sugar Planter would not 
burn it as fuel, while the sugar planter is too busy mak- 
ing Sugar to stop during the grinding season (which, of 
course, is the only time that Bagasse can be obtained — -and 
one reason why these researches covered so long a period) 
and experiment with Bagasse at a time when every thought 
and purpose is to transport the Cane to the Mill, make and 
market the Sugar. The reader must also understand that 
the growing of Sugar Cane and the manufacture of Sugar 
requires more attention and expense than any other agri- 
cultural crop produced and its harvest and grinding season 
involve between 90 and 100 days. (Just imagine the move- 
ment of four million tons and this tonnage has to be moved 
in from 90 to 100 days! If this tonnage was loaded in 
gondola cars 40 feet, long, 20 tons to the car, it would 
make a continuous line of gondola cars extending from 
New Orleans to and beyond Hartford, Connecticut.) It is 
by no means a reflection on the Sugar Planter that he has 
not developed a more practical use for Bagasse, any more 
than it was on the Cotton Planter when he used to burn up 
his Cotton Seed to get rid of it, and the great industry 
built up with the By-products of Cotton Seed find a most 
wonderful prototype in the By-product from Sugar Cane. In 
fact it is positive proof that Nature has created in the 
South two of the World's most wonderful feeding materials: 
Protein and Fat as derived from Cotton Seed Meal; and 
Carbohydrates with its most desirable cubic bulk to be ob- 
tained from Sugar Cane Bagasse. (And the most remarkable 
feature of this fact is that Cotton Seed Meal is a high 
concentrate in feed value, while the Molasses Meal to be 
derived from Bagasse can be produced with an absolute cer- 
tainty regarding its Cubic Bulk, and is beyond question 
the very product created by Nature for the mixing with 
Cotton Seed Meal; because, combined in proper proportion, 
they will make a Balanced Ration in proper bulk ratio 
to the feeding nutrients-which should be varied according to 
the physiological requirements of the animal to be fed. 
This accomplishment has long been sought by scientific feed- 
ers throughout the world-but the work of perfecting this pro- 
cess (covering more than a year in actual mechanical tests) 
has proven that Sugar Cane Bagasse is the only vegetable ma- 
terial known to this Company, the Cubic Bulk of which can be 
varied (in size) and its carbobohydrate content be made abso- 
lutely the same. High concentrate-feed is essential for the 
substantial fattening of hogs-but the theory of feeding corn, 
for instance, to horses and mules because hogs thrive on corn, 
is erroneous. The dimensions of an animal's stomach in pro- 
portion to the animal's physical size has a great deal to do 
with the character of feed to be fed each animal-age and 
weight are other factors. 

Page Seven 



Cotton Seed Meal possesses ideal characteristics to co- 
ordinate with Molasso Meal and will effect the most perfectly 
Balanced Ration in the world. Because Cottonseed Meal is a 
high Protein concentrate, the protein contents of which is 
fixed in the process of oil making-dependent upon two fac- 
tors: (i. e., the character and condition of the Cottonseed 
and the efficiency of the Oil Mill) it has long needed such a 
product as Molasso Meal to thoroughly establish its univer- 
sal use as feed. 

SUGAR CANE BAGASSE is the residue of Sugar Cane after 
the juice has been extracted. Bagasse has never been suc- 
cessfully exploited for any other purpose in Louisiana 
than fuel. It is true that a Mill was built some years 
ago at Amesville, La., to manufacture Fibreboard and pro- 
duced a small quantity of this material but was abandoned 
for lack of funds. Another effort to make paper was made 
without practical success at Bayou Goula, Louisiana. Eastern 
interests are now promoting the recovery of commercial value 
in bagasse and have erected a plant at New Iberia, Louisiana, 
mainly to recover the fibre of bagasse for paper-making. 
This, however, is a chemical process and does not aim to pro- 
duce feed for cattle in any of its phases. The Molasso Meal 
Process is a Mechanical Process. Some years ago in St. 
Bernard Parish, Louisiana, a Syndicate backed by British 
Capital, attempted unsuccessfully to exploit bagasse for 
Paper Making. Their failure can be traced directly to their 
lack of knowledge in successfully treating bagasse. Two 
facts substantiate this statement: The Wisconsin Experi- 
ment Station is reported now making between two and four tons 
of paper per day from Sugar Cane Bagasse in the Island of 
Cuba, and the Paper Mill built by the British Syndicate in 
St. Bernard Parish is now being successfully operated, making 
Paper from Yellow Pine Fibre. 

Having familiarized themselves with the properties of 
Bagasse through years of study in an effort to solve the 
Feeding Problem, the promoters of this Company appreciate 
now why failure has been made in the many attempts to exploit 
Fibre of Sugar Cane for manufacture. The main reason for 
failure in properly treating bagasse is because of a lack of 
knowledge as to the main essential for its commercial recov- 
ery (economic drying). All previous attempts have been 
along the line of recovering Fibre Value only and ignoring 
the other two-thirds bulk of Bagasse, that is, Cellulose or 
Pith, and these efforts have been along chemical lines rather 
than mechanical. When the Bagasse leaves the last roller 
at the Sugar Mill it contains not less than 50% Moisture. 
Until this moisture is eliminated any effort to chemically 
treat the material must of necessity be so powerful (to, 
effectively destroy foreign elements not necessary in fibre 
manufacture) that the tissues of the Fibre have been de- 
stroyed. Perhaps the same mistake would have been made along 
the Feed line had Fibre been as valuable as a Feed material as 
it was for pressboard or other Fibre fabrication. But the 

Page Eight 



requirements necessary to the use of the cellulose of Bagasse 
for Feed demanded the separation of the Moisture. And thus 
in the solution of this mechanical problem has been evolved an 
economical, practical process for producing a Fibre from 
Sugar Cane Bagasse at least 70% pure. 

The genius of man has not conceived an economic means 
either by chemical or mechanical process to extract all 
the Sugar from Sugar Cane. The average ton of Sugar Cane 
Bagasse produced in Louisiana contains from 3% to 6% of 
actual Sugar. The average is nearer 6 than 3%. This 6% 
exists in a material containing 50% Moisture. When the 
Moisture is eliminated, instead of 6 pounds of actual 
Sugar existing in 100 pounds of wet Bagasse, 6 pounds are 
contained in 50 pounds of dried Bagasse. (Once put into 
palatable form the gastric juices of any healthy animal's 
stomach will absorb and assimilate this Sugar.) 

This dried Bagasse contains 42% Fibre, 48% Cellulose 
(or pithy part) and 10% Moisture. After years of effort 
and research to perfect the process, a practical means of 
economic drying was found. More than a year was devoted 
to a careful experiment to separate the Cellulose from the 
Fibre; because every unit of Fibre reduced in the Cel- 
lulose would increase the Sugar content of the Cellulose 
that much. Bagasse Cellulose is the most wonderful vege- 
table absorbent in the world. (This explains why the many 
attempts mentioned to exploit its Fibre were failures. 

They were dealing with an unknown factor, ignorant of its 
treatment, regardless of its wonderful absorptive quali- 
ties, and failed.) It is Nature's own package as a con- 
tainer for Black Strap Molasses, and, properly mixed, 
produces a Carbohydrate Feeding Meal of wonderful value. 
Its commercial feasibility has already been successfully 
exploited by the British interests in England, who have 
developed a trade of more than twenty thousand (20,000) 
tons annually; made in the Island of Java and transported 
half way round the world to reach its market (the British 
Isles) and yet not a pound made today in the United States. 

The demand today for Feeding Material is unprecedented 
in the history of the world. The human race is growing 
faster than the production of grains. Hogs, Chicago mar- 
ket, cost more today than ever before. The greatest economic 
problem before the American people today-aside from winning 
the War-is a correct solution of the feeding problem. The 
average man dees not grasp the full significance of this fact 
because-the average man, especially in the city, is so busy 
following his own line of vocation that he looks upon the 
feed problem as relating entirely to horses and mules. The 
smallest phase of this business will be supplying feed for 
draft animals. The greatest business will relate to the pro- 
duction of Meat, Milk and Butter-fats. The birth rate of the 
United States is in excess of deaths and the population is 
growing at the rate of 1,500,000 per year. While the human race 

Page Nine 



is suffering an enormous reduction in the terrible con- 
flict abroad, this elimination rather reduces the power 
of agricultural production hereafter, far greater than the 
reduction in human consumption thereby caused. The maimed 
and crippled will add to the nonproductive element of the 
world to a vastly greater extent than exists now, and 
agriculture must suffer enormously at a time when not a 
man can be spared. For the pathway has been from the farm 
and not to it. An early termination of the World War could 
not transform this serious situation. Both Feed and Fibre 
will offer their own problems in the future. The present 
situation in these commodities can only reflect a serious 
future regarding supply. Any industry having for its 
purpose the production of either of these commodities 
along practical lines, and particularly an industry pro- 
ducing both, cannot fail to thrive and prosper. 

Our President visited England after the present war 
started and obtained Patent Rights on certain principles 
involved in this process, and, returning, organized a 
Company to exploit the proposition. After over a year's 
earnest work in completing a fully equipped Mill, through 
the criminal carelessness of others outside its own prem- 
ises, the Mill was destroyed by fire on January 8th, 1917. 
Suit was entered in the United States District Court against 
the parties responsible and after a period of over a year, 
fighting technical legal delays the trial was held and after 
four days a compromise verdict was reached. Owing to un- 
settled conditions in the railroad world and necessity for 
awaiting the issuing of final patents to protect the investors 
in this Company and also arranging for the additional ma- 
chinery needed, the marketing of stock has been held in abey- 
ance until now. The Molasso Meal to be made by this Company 
will comprise the Cellulose or Pith of Sugar Cane and Black 
Strap Molasses. The Process is fully covered by United 
States Letters Patent. Its feasibility as a practical Carbo- 
hydrate (or energy-producing Feeding Meal) is established be- 
yond question by the volume of business already developed in 
the British Isles. It is not a Balanced Ration, as Protein 
and Fat are required to complete its efficiency in this re- 
spect. This product bears the same relation to the Sugar 
Cane Industry as Dried Sugar Beet Pulp bears to the Sugar 
Beet industry, the only difference being that the Sugar Beet 
industry has already taken advantage of their splendid by- 
product, and developed a business in this country amounting to 
thousands of tons annually, while the Sugar Cane Industry 
has done nothing whatsoever to develope the value of Sugar 
Cane Bagasse, except to burn it as fuel like the sawmill 
gets rid of its slabs and sawdust. 

The cost of this Meal predicated on present plans will 
positively insure one of the greatest reliefs known in the 
Feed World, and, even should normal prices come again, 
»ill always afford a wonderful betterment in the cost of 
feeding livestock. 

Page Ten 



This is by no means an ordinary propaganda. Years of 
experience are behind the facts herein quoted. It is not 
an experimental proposition and the products of the in- 
dustry are in universal demand and will continue. The 
process deals with a waste by-product that the World is 
ignorant of, and particularly in the enlightened United 
States; for the by-product is from the Sugar Cane industry 
that has had to struggle for its existence with unlimited 
handicap from every angle of its activity, restricting a free 
and progressive expansion of the industry. 

Every unit of expense, every detail of equipment, every 
item of financial requirement has been most carefully com- 
piled for the erection and operation of this new plant. Blue 
prints have been completed and bids received from every 
industry in position to furnish equipment. A long-term lease 
has been entered into which gives this Company valuable 
grounds with every facility of transportation at Port Chal- 
aette, Louisiana, and the first plant will be completed on 
this site. Switch tracks are laid, our boiler room equipped 
with high-class Babcock and Wilcox boilers, a complete Al- 
teration plant and all other facilities are intact and com- 
pletely installed, and engines and other equipment are under 
contract for early completion. Our plant will be convenient 
to the Industrial Canal and ideally located for the handling 
of tonnage. It will require an investment of $100,000.00 to 
complete the initial plans now under way and the first plant 
will eventually take care of all business east of the Missis- 
sippi River. Our second and largest plant will be erected 
in the Sugar Belt of Louisiana convenient to the supply of 
Crude Material, and will involve an additional expen- 
diture of $250,000.00. As already stated, Molasso 
Meal is fully protected by letters United States Patent 
and this Company has exclusive right protecting its manufac- 
ture. The results already achieved insure the safety of 
the stockholders' investment-in a pioneer industry affording 
splendid profits to its stockholders. 

The Company is in possession of samples of Molasso Meal 
more than six years old and which are in a perfect state of 
preservation. The process herein explained sterilizes the 
fermentable properties of Black Strap Molasses and prevents 
deterioration. 

The technical merits of this proposition have already 
been amply exemplified and attested to through the work 
of such men as: 

E. W. Kerr, M. E. (until recently Professor of 
Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana State University, 
and one of the highest authorities in the world on 
the Fuel efficiency of Sugar Cane Bagasse). 

Dr. A. L. Metz (Dean of Chemistry, Tulane Uni- 
versity) , and analytical reports have been ob- 
tained from Dr. W. R. Dodson, Official Chemist of 
the Louisiana State Department of Agriculture. 
This company appeals to your Public Spirit. The Feed Prob- 
lem is vital to a Meat-eating race like the Anglo-Saxon. 

Page Eleven 



Every man, woman and child in this country is affected by 
it. The high cost of living is founded primarily upon the 
cost of Meat production and the expense involved in mak- 
ing Butter and Animal Fats. (Because when the cost of 
Bread is high the cost of producing these is likewise, 
since in the past the By-products of grains and cereals 
have been used for this purpose — and very often Straight 
Grains.) Every unit of Food conserved for human consump- 
tion will redound greatly to the benefit of humanity for a 
number of years to come, and this movement involves a tre- 
mendous step forward in the right direction. 

Every Oil Mill in the South could be made a Mixed Feed 
plant and the saving alone in the cost of transportation 
would greatly benefit them. Mr. Asa G. Candler has 
proven with his soft drink (Coca-Cola) what can be done 
with a standard formula marketed under a universally ad- 
vertised Brand. This proposition to the Feed World is what 
Coca-Cola has proven to the Soft-Drink World. One is a 
luxury while the other is a necessity. Prohibition has 
helped the exploitation of Coca-Cola as a soft drink, and 
feeding the human family with a Grain production hardly 
sufficient for this purpose, coupled with a shortage of 
ships for exporting Cotton Seed Meal and Cake, is bound 
to help this Feed proposition. 

The organization comprises men of experience in the feed 
business whose technical training qualify them for their spe^- 
cial work. The experimental stage has been passed and every 
mechanical phase has been thoroughly tried and proven. 

This is by no means a small undertaking. The problems in- 
volved have been at times almost impossible-because the work 
of perfecting the process has been along the Pioneer's Line, 
with very little known that could be relied upon without a 
most exhaustive research and experiment. 

The above amount of capital required would positively 
earn: 

6 Per Cent per annum for the Investment, 
19 " " " " " Depreciation, Wear and Tear. 

2 " " " " " Insurance. 
30 " " " " " Improvements and Extensions. 

48 Per Cent minimum earning power on the investment, 
all of which can be presented in a comprehensive and com- 
plete form readily verified by competent authorities 
(Chemists and Engineers of your own choosing) or selected 
by a committee the Board of Directors may elect to choose. 
You are cordially invited to become interested in this 
Company and you are earnestly solicited to assist in the or- 
ganization of this splendid work. 

We are enclosing for your consideration an application 
blank for stock and will reserve as many shares as you may de- 
sire-subject to our acceptance. 

Yours very truly, 
AMERICAN M0LASS0 MEAL COMPANY, Inc. 

Page Twelve 



FEEDING BAGASSE 

A Paper by Chas. H. O'Rourke read before the Louisiana 

Sugar Planters Association, Sugar Experiment Station, 

Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, 

June 14th, 1917. 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the 

Louisiana Sugar Planters Association: 

A request to respond at this meeting to Prof. A. Guell's paper on 
'Burning Bagasse" is a privilege extended to me and highly appre- 
ciated. My limitations in Mechanical Engineering would have prompted 
me to decline, but as Prof. Guell has taken up the most important 
work of directing the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louis- 
iana State University, succeeding Prof. E. W. Kerr, whom I consider 
the highest authority in the world on the calorific Fuel Efficiency of 
Sugar Cane Bagasse, and is himself so deeply interested, with you 
gentlemen, in this most important subject; I have accepted the invi- 
tation with the hope that in a modest way my discussion will add some 
information to the subject from a different angle. 

The fundamental principles of Fuel Efficiency is the utilization 
of every available heat unit with a minimum of loss (which cannot 
be entirely prevented) in the flue gases. According to the fuel used, 
the design of the boiler, furnace, variations of waste gases is per- 
ceptible. This waste gas proposition depends entirely upon the con- 
struction of the furnace, and of course the size of the stack. Any 
material containing a variable moisture content must prove a very 
difficult fuel to regulate accurately, furnace efficiency. 

Mr. H. W. Raynor, who perfected and patented a Bagasse Dryer 
and devoted a number of years in an effort to solve the problem of 
drying Bagasse to increase its fuel efficiency, makes the claim that 
Sugar Cane Bagasse has the following Fuel Values: 

Content in Bagasse. B. T. U. per Lb. 

Moisture Net Heat Value 

60% 2,599 

56 % .- 2,977 

54% 3,169 

52% 3,361 

50% 3,554 

48 % 3,746 

46% 3,938 

44 % 4,131 

42 % 4,323 

40% ! . 4,513 

38 % 4,703 

36% 4,908 

34 % 5.094 

32% 5,300 

30 % 5,474 

20 % 6,430 

10 % 7,398 

0% 8,360 

Taking one pound of Bagasse containing 50% Moisture (3,554 BTU) 
as a basis, by comparison with one pound of Fuel Oil (14,000 BTU) 
such a material is worth approximately one-quarter of the Fuel value 
of Fuel Oil. And yet were the Bagasse reduced to an absolutely dried 
state its increased fuel officiency would be (according to Prof. Kerr 
and concurred in by Mr. Raynor) as 3,360 BTU is to 3,554 BTU or 59% 
(a little more than one-half the value of Fuel Oil at 14,000 BTU.) 

Under the most scientific and economic principles it has been found 
that to evaporate 5 tons of water per hour from wet Bagasse contain- 
ing 50% moisture, requires 400 pounds of coal (at $5.00 per ton) in 



addition to the exhaust steam from a 300 H. P. engine, would repre- 
sent $1.00 fuel cost and under the most favorable conditions would 
only increase the fuel value of the material as 5,554 is to 8,360 BTU 
(or 5,206 BTUs), which by comparison with coal at $5.00 per ton would 
mean $2.95. These figures do not include the fuel cost of the exhaust 
steam from the engine or the cost of labor. Starting with a Fuel 
Value in Bagasse of 3,554 BTU at an expense of $1.00 for fuel in the 
operation, a recovered value of but 70c per ton has been obtained 
(since we start with a fixed fuel value in Bagasse containing 50% 
moisture; $1.25 per ton as per above statement), and this difference 
in recovered value would more than be absorbed by the overhead 
expense. 

In other words, it will cost practically as much to recover the 
fuel value of Bagasse by artificial drying as its increase in efficiency 
as fuel would represent. 

But it seems to me the most practical way of arriving at the 
actual fuel value of Sugar Cane Bagasse is to eliminate it entirely 
from the calculation and to determine the amount of fuel necessary to 
run a Sugar Mill without the use of any Bagasse. 

Prof. Kerr lays down the principle that "not less than 1% BHP 
should be provided per ton of cane crushed per 24 hours. Therefore 
a Sugar Mill crushing 1,000 tons of Sugar Cane per 24 hours requires 
1,000 x 1% BHP or 1,500 BHP. 

If Fuel Oil is used 173 gallons will evaporate 20,000 lbs. of water. 
(Standard Oil Company — authority). This basis is on a parity with the 
efficiency of Pratt No. 4 coal. It requires 441.15 gallons of Fuel Oil 
to evaporate 51,000 lbs. of water equal to 1,500 BHP per hour. 

Should coal be used as a substitute fuel at the Sugar Mill, 1,500 
BHP per twenty-four hours would require 124,000 lbs. coal. (One pound 
of Pratt No. 4 will evaporate 10 lbs. of water.) 

On the basis of Fuel Oil it would require 10,587.60 gallons or 252.14 
bbls per 24 hours; or operating 100 days 25,214 bbls. to run a properly 
equipped Sugar Mill grinding 1,000 tons per 24 hours. Should the most 
economical Sugar Mill in Louisiana be taken as a comparison there 
should be deducted from this total of 10,587.60 gallons Fuel Oil per 
24 hours, 3,000 gallons (the amount of Fuel Oil they are using in con- 
junction with Bagasse at present). This would bring the additional 
fuel required per 24 hours (if Bagasse was eliminated entirely) to 
7,587.60 gallons Fuel Oil or 180.65 bbls. For 100 working days of 24 
hours each, 18,065 bbls. (758,730 gallons) Fuel Oil. 

18,065 Bbls. Fuel Oil at $1.00 per bbl $18,065.00 

On this basis 25,000 tons of Bagasse is equal in value to 72c per ton 

Should coal be used as a substitute fuel at the Sugar Mill, 1,500 BHP 
per 24 hours would consume 124,000 lbs., or 62 tons at $5.00 per ton: 
$310.00 per 24 hours. For 100 full running (24-hour) days would be 
6,200 tons at $5.00 per ton: $31,000.00. Now taking the fuel problem 
at one of the most economic Sugar Mills in Louisiana as a basis, one- 
third of their fuel expense is oil. On this ratio, one-third of $31,000.00 
is $10,333.33, which represents the amount of fuel other than Bagasse 
that has to be supplied, leaving $20,666.67, which represents the fuel 
value of Bagasse used in conjunction with coal at $5.00 per ton. 

For 25,000 tons of Bagasse from such a mill on this basis would 
be .82c per ton. 

The average Sugar Mill in Louisiana, as you well know, operates 
on both Fuel Oil and Bagasse, some using coal instead of Fuel Oil. 
But the great handicap to the use of Bagasse as fuel is the disadvan- 



tage in the generation of steam in the furnace arising from the 
moisture in Bagasse. Steam is efficient in extinguishing Are because 
steam will expand and expel the oxigen, which, aside from heat is the 
most important factor in combustion. When the furnace is fed with 
wet Bagasse the moisture in Bagasse will generate steam in the 
furnace in such great volume that it minimizes the supply of oxigen 
the instant the steam is generated until it is heated to such an extent 
that it becomes a gas itself. The result is that at the time of feeding 
the wet Bagasse into the furnace the wet Bagasse will absorb the 
biggest part of the heat from the fire and very little is transmitted to 
generate steam into the boiler until all the moisture in the Bagasse 
is evaporated and the full supply of oxigen enters the furnace after 
the generated steam from the wet Bagasse has escaped through the 
stack. 

Just pause for a moment and contemplate the amount of water 
fed into the average boiler-furnace per hour at our Sugar Mills during 
grinding season and the laws of energy wasted out of the stack! A 
Sugar Mill grinding 1,000 tons of cane 4 per 24 hours, feeds into the 
furnace 125 tons or 30,120 gallons of water per 24 hours. This energy 
in steam is equal to a loss of 300 BHP per hour. In other words, gen- 
tlemen, the 1,000-ton Sugar Mill loses 350 BHP per hour to enjoy a 
fuel efficiency of 1,500 BHP per hour and to overcome the unknown 
factor burns Fuel Oil, wood or coal in addition to Bagasse. 

Increased efficiency has been developed by certain Sugar Mills 
through the installation of forced draft, but while the increase in 
combustion in the chamber — by the supply of increased oxigen — has 
occurred, it has also increased the loss through flue gases. It is a fact, 
however, that when forced draft is properly used there is a marked 
increase in the surplus Bagasse and a decrease in Fuel Oil required. 

A number of attempts have been made and progress accomplished 
to increase the fuel efficiency of Bagasse through the utilization of 
waste flue gases for drying purposes. Improvements in furnace-con- 
struction, Dutch Ovens, Hoppers, Shaker Grates and other devices, in- 
cluding forced draft; all of which have helped to some extent. 

A factor that will prove of much greater benefit to the Louisiana 
Sugar Planter will be the oil development in the Sugar Belt that I 
predict will prove greater in the next few years than ever before, for 
I believe this whole State is over a subterranean Lake of Petroleum. 
The biggest Gas Well in the World has already been brought in, in 
Terrebonne Parish — a fact that will afford the Sugar Planters in that 
section a wonderfully cheap and efficient fuel. 

Nature never intended Bagasse to be used as fuel. It is possible 
to violate Nature's laws from sheer necessity, but sooner or later con- 
ditions will demand a correction. And the correction in this instance 
is the utilization of Bagasse as feed and its ultimate substitution with 
some other fuel. For a number of years I have labored persistently 
to solve the problem of economic feeding in its relation to Livestock 
in Louisiana. There are a number of you gentlemen who have shipped 
Bagasse to me and whom I have visited in regards to this subject. 
In the practice of these researches I have made a number of shipments 
of Bagasse to the East, where practical tests with mechanical devices 
have been made to determine the very best mechanical principles to 
follow in the treatment of this material, and I have gone to London, 
England, to make sure that the principle was not only correct but 
could not be encroached upon. I am satisfied beyond any doubt that 
we have in Louisiana the most abundant supply of suitable material 
for the manufacture of a Carbohydrate Feeding Meal as can be found 
anywhere in the World. Sugar Cane Bagasse is the most wonderful 
vegetable absorbent in the World, and properly handled as it leaves 
the last roller of the Sugar Mill can be converted into a Carbohydrate 
Feed Meal that will afford a practical solution to the Feeding Problem 
in the South. It is not a balanced ration, as protein and fat must be 
added to increase its efficiency in this respect. It is by no means a 
reflection on the Sugar Planter that you have not developed a more 
practical use for Bagasse, any more than it was for the Cotton Planter 



when he used to burn up his Cotton Seed to get rid of it, and the 
great industry built up with the by-products of Cotton Seed find a 
most wonderful prototype in the by-product from Sugar Cane. In 
fact, it is positive proof that Nature has created in the South two 
of the World's most wonderful feeding materials: Protein and Fat as 
derived from Cotton Seed Meal and Carbohydrates with its most de- 
sirable cubic bulk to be obtained from Sugar Cane Bagasse. And the 
most remarkable feature of this fact is that Cotton Seed Meal is a 
high concentrate in feed value, while the "Molasso Meal" to be dep- 
rived from Bagasse can be produced with an absolute certainty re- 
garding its cubic bulk, and is beyond question the very product created 
by Nature for the mixing with Cotton Seed Meal; because, combined 
in proper proportion they will make a balanced ration in proper bulk 
ratio to the feeding nutrients — which vary according to the physiological 
requirements of the animal fed. This is a result long sought for by 
expert feeders. 

Louisiana has paid out millions of dollars to the West for both 
food and feedstuffs. Western Sugar Beet refiners come down to our 
very doors and undersell Refined Beet Granulated at anywhere from 
11 to 15 points under the Louisiana Market. How can he do it? How 
can he produce more sugar on less ground and make it cheaper than 
Louisiana? He can't. And yet he undersells Louisiana Sugar right 
here at home. There's a reason for everything under the sun. One 
reason why the Western Sugar Beet Refiner can do it is because he 
does not burn up the Sugar Beet after extracting what sugar he can 
from it. Because he has organized the producing factors and has 
fought for transportation rates. Because he pays for beets on a basis 
of what beets are worth to him. And making sugar in the West under 
conditions whereby he enjoys a wonderful business from the con- 
suming population West of the Rocky Mountains and likewise a much 
lower freight rate to these consuming points, can absorb 10 to 15 
points differential on the market east of the Rockies cr East of the 
Mississippi River — wherever our freight rates begin to equalize with 
his — and break even. But one great big factor among these reasons 
is the Feed Factor. The Western Sugar Beet refiner has taken ad- 
vantage of Germany's practice and has utilized every unit of value 
in his business. The volume of business done in dried sugar beet pulp 
amounts to millions of dollars annually. In 1916 Louisiana produced 
4,000,000 tons of Sugar Cane, from which 3,000,000 tons of juice were 
extracted, leaving 1,000,000 tons of Bagasse as food for flame, when 
this material could be converted into livestock feed worth not less 
than $7,500,000.00. Its efficiency as feed has already been developed 
elsewhere. It is not a theory but an established fact. Sugar Cane Ba- 
gasse is worth less than one dollar per ton as fuel and offers one of 
the hardest problems the Sugar Planter is confronted with. Because 
it hampers a fixed and certain steam pressure and often retards the 
cooking of juice at a time when the steam is insufficient to supply the 
mill's full requirements. 

Gentlemen, I seek your co-operation and will afford those who 
do co-operate with me a profit from their Bagasse which they have 
never known before. I shall arrange with a number of Sugar Mills 
to take a quantity of their Bagasse this Fall, without any interrup- 
tion to their important process of grinding, and hope to establish 
olants at a number of points in the Sugar Belt in the next few years. 

The serious period of history upon which we are entering demands 
that every unit of value be availed of. America with its unsurpassed 
genius and incomporable democracy must sustain the high standard 
of efficiency in War that it has so nobly achieved in Peace. Both the 
Food and Feed supplies are as vital to a conquering Nation as Ships, 
Men and Munitions. Let us get together and conserve as large a part 
of this waste in Louisiana as is possible, at a time when America needs 
every unit of Feed and Food values possible to conserve. 

Gentlemen, I thank you. 

SPECIAL NOTE— The BTUs in one pound of Fuel Oil has been 
figured at 14,000 (the recognized standard is not less than 18,000 BTU) 
in order to place its fuel efficiency on the same basis as coal. 



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